Share via

In the name of God, Russian priests have stood up to the Mongols, burnt
themselves to death over a point of dogma, excommunicated Tolstoy and even
recruited spies for the KGB.

Never before, however, has their sense of mission moved them to take part in a
10,500-mile (16,898km) off-road rally from one frozen end of Russia to the
other with a $100,000 (£66,040) prize at stake.

Yet at 7 o’clock on Saturday morning when the 15-vehicle field for the annual
Expedition Trophy race set off from inside the Arctic Circle its most
unlikely competitors were a team of Orthodox Priests